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But, yes, this is another blog on Cal’s wide receiver, whose steady rise up draft boards began with his performance at the Senior Bowl in January.

Shortly after writing this blog on Jones on Friday, I had a wide-ranging interview with CBS Sports draft analyst Rob Rang, who became most enthused when the conversation turned to a certain Pac-12 wide receiver. I thought Rang’s thoughts on Jones were worth passing along, so here goes ..

“We had him rated as a definite Day 3 – round-four, round-five, round-six kind of a guy,” said Rang, who lives outside Seattle. “And at the Senior Bowl, I’ll tell you this, I’ve been going to Senior Bowls since 2001, and I’ve never been more surprised by a West Coast receiver – a guy I consider to be in my backyard. The only receiver I’ve seen like that was Chad Johnson coming out of Oregon State (in 2001). I didn’t know anything about him and he went to Mobile and was just dazzling.

“That’s the kind of a guy I think Marvin Jones could be. I mean, Chad Johnson, or Ochocinco, whatever he calls himself these days, I don’t know if Jones is going to have that kind of a career, but he’s similar in that he’s just a guy the whole nation is sleeping on. Obviously, (Jim) Harbaugh is going to know him. I think there’s reason to be excited about him and to have in the back of your head that he’s somebody that’s going to go a little higher than most people think.”

Rang said he undervalued Jones coming out of college based, in part, on Cal’s underwhelming quarterback play. In Jones’ three seasons as a starter, Cal’s primary starters – Kevin Riley and Zach Maynard – had a combined completion percentage of 56.7.

At the Senior Bowl, Jones was catching passes from Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins, Boise Sate’s Kellen Moore and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson, who are all expected to be drafted. Jones caught just one pass in the game – an 8-yard touchdown from Wilson – but his overall performance in Mobile elevated him above other wideouts such as Iowa’s Marvin McNutt, Appalachian State’s Brian Quick and Arizona’s Juron Criner, according to Rang.

“The quarterback play was so bad (at Cal), I didn’t give him enough credit for the pays he did make,” Rang said. “I’m telling you, in Mobile he was the best receiver and that’s saying something because they had some talent there.”

By the way, Chad Johnson was the No. 36 pick in the 2001 draft. If Jones follows a similar path, it’s hard to see him playing with the 49ers.

* I’m writing a newspaper story on Jones and my colleague, Cal beat writer John Crumpacker, spoke to Cal coach Jeff Tedford about Jones at the Bear’s spring game Saturday.

“The team who gets Marvin is going to get a great young man, who’s going to work very hard and make plays,” Tedford said. “I’ve heard he’s moving up (draft boards) and that’s good. He’s got great range, very good speed, strong hands and is physical. He’s got a lot going for him.”